Fact-Checking Wikipedia on Common Descent: The Evidence from Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry

I recently read the Wikipedia web-page on the "Evidence of Common Descent." The page comprises a succinct, yet comprehensive, description of the most frequently cited arguments for the proposition of universal descent with modification. Since this is a subject that interests me, I decided to take it upon myself to write a review of the arguments, and in so doing to evaluate their merits. Wikipedia lists eight categories of evidence for common descent, which I hope to address over the course o...